Beginners Guide to World of Tanks

Beginners GuideScreenshots coming when I stop being lazy!/Find corndogs for sale in the UK

I‘ll start by saying I am not a invincible stunningly awesome tank driver, although I am stunningly awesome. This is not meant to be a advanced guide or completely explain the game so don't shoot me! If I can ever afford a new PC I might do some fraps etc.

To start with I‘ll cover some general tips and knowledge that will help get your started and help you ease into games, without being out of your depth. The first thing you need to know is vehicle icons, you will see these above friendly tanks and enemy tanks that are spotted.

A diamond shape indicates a light tank, typically scouts.

A triangle shape indicates a tank destroyer.

Two diagonal lines indicate a medium tank

Three diagonal lines indicate a Heavy tank

A square indicates an artillery unit

Knowing these can be very useful on the fly info, so you know whether you should go around that corner or not. A more advanced part of this function is to press and hold the alt key (Default key), this will reveal the icons for all the tanks within your visual range. As an exampe it can be used to tell whether that heavy icon is a KV or an IS-7, with practice you should be able to tell every tank apart by these icons.

Another helpful tip is to remember to use your right mouse button. Holding this down will allow you to look around your tank, without moving your turret/tank and losing any camo bonus you have by being still.Light tanks

Light tanks such as the Luchs, A-20 and M-5 Stuart basically fulfil the role of battlefield scout and act as the eyes of your team and its artillery. Scouting doesn‘t have to involve kamikaze charges into the enemy team to reveal artillery. It can be just as effective when roaming just ahead of your teams heavy and medium tanks. Revealing enemies before they get a chance to ambush your teams valuable heavy tanks.

A few tips for driving a light tank:

Try to keep moving as much as possible, a light tank that isn‘t moving can be easy prey as a lot of tanks posses the ability to kill you with a single shot.

Use cover to your advantage you are the most nimble tank on the battlefield when you need to stop do so with a nice big rock between you and the enemy.

Don‘t camp as a light tank you won‘t do much damage to enemy tanks that have broken through your teams ranks so get to the front!

Medium tanks

Medium tanks come in two varieties: The VK3601 and everything else. They generally rely on their maneuverability to flank and open up new angles of attack on the enemy team. While some mediums can participate in a stand and shoot heavy slugfest, it is generally better to avoid doing this.

A few tips for driving a medium tank:

Drive around with other mediums as much as possible, a medium tank wolf-pack can tear apart any heavy tanks silly enough to move away from their team mates.

Don‘t try to engage in a slugfest with a heavy tank, he will probably have a better gun, more armour and more hitpoints. Unless you are several tiers above him and even if you are focus on flanking and pot shots.

This only applies if you are particularly nimble and think you can close the gap in a open area. Get in close and drive circles around the enemy. Most non-mediums won‘t have the turret traverse speed to target you effectively.

Heavy tanks

The king of the battlefield (well not really, arty take that crown), your role is to aborb the enemies attacks and return it ten-fold. Keep your front towards the enemy and lead the line, you will almost always be in the centre of the fight. Out of all the tanks on the battlefield it is especially important that you do as much damage as possible. If you die cheaply it hurts the team far more than losing any other vehicle apart from a early artillery death.

A few tips for driving a heavy tank:

You are not rambo, even the most powerful heavy tank will go die faster than it takes a german tank to suffer module damage if fighting alone. Do not drive around alone you will be easy prey for the enemy team.

Use the terrain to your advantage, powerful enemy artillery? Okay use the buildings and hills to shield yourself from their fire. Proper use of terrain (without camping) is almost as essential to winning as bringing ammo is.

Keep your frontal armour towards the enemy, while not always possible this will help you survive as long as possible. I‘ve lost count of the number of heavy tanks that spot a new enemy and simply turn their turret while getting pounded by enemy fire to the side or rear.

Tank Destroyers

Stealthy, powerful guns, avid horticulturist and lovers of bushes. Tank destroyers are the guys who can lock down a entire street or flank simply because they are there. While not possesing the best armour they are adept at engaging at range but on the flipside most handle poorly upclose or in tight quarters.

A few tips for driving a Tank Destroyer:

Pick a spot where you can provide fire support to as many of your teammates as possible. Or a spot where you can protect a flank from anyone trying to sneak up on your artillery.

Don‘t intentionally close the distance with a enemy tank, your strength is at range. Close up your gun can be avoided far more easily.

While camping a bush beside your artillery is a bad idea, sitting in a bush 50m in front of them screening them from scouts can be invaluable.Artillery

Most likely to be voted as the cause of the most nerdrages in the forthcoming WoT rants of 2011. Artillery can be your most powerful ally and your most frustrating foe, a well place and well aimed artillery piece can decimate entire teams. They don‘t need to kill you to ruin your day, a few well placed shots can leave your teams best tanks cowering in fear and hiding from loltraktors. The unofficial kings of the battlefield, they will ruin your day.

A few tips for driving an artillery piece:

Move! While staying in one spot can work out wonderfully, if you are targetted by a player skilled in counter artillery or by someone with enough luck to make even the richest lottery winners cry you will die if stationary. Moving will save you from an early exit. It doesn‘t need to be much, shoot..move 10m and rinse and repeat.

Be aware of map terrain, while this is important for every vehicle it is especially important for artillery to be aware of. Knowing the terrain will affect where you will shoot from and where the enemy artillery are most likely to be, essential for effective counter artillery.

Aim! Too many artillery players swing their reticule onto a enemy tank and fire in the vain hope that they‘ll get lucky. Be patient, let the recticule shrink and if the enemy tank is moving predict where they will go.

Lastly be aware of your angle of fire, turn/traverse until your potential target is in the center of your angle of fire. There is nothing worse than having your recticule shrink for the perfect shot only to have it expand because you didn‘t correctly turn your artillery unit before aiming more closely.

General game play tips

Learn the maps, learn where the enemy is most likely to come from and where they are most likely going to be defending from. Knowing enemy tank destroyers are most likely to be on the forested side of Prokhorovka while fast medium tanks will often try to go up the hill on the opposite side, can be essential for knowing where to position yourself.
A list of maps can be found here: http://forum.worldof...esolution-maps/
Although nothing can replacing actually experiencing battles, taking a look at those maps won’t hurt.

Watch where your teammates go and bite the bullet if necessary. It doesn’t happen often but if you notice 90% of your team going to one flank, try covering the other side. It might not get you much glory but in may just help your team win and you’ll be a hero! Well at least to the artillery behind you.

Ping enemy artillery positions, if you notice artillery fire coming from the general direction of A1-2-3. Ping it on the map and let your artillery know so they can counter artillery if necessary. You can do this by holding control+left clicking on a square on the mini-map grid.

Know your role, if there are several of you and your team engaging in a bit of back and forth around a corner with the enemy. It wouldn’t make sense for your medium to be on the inside space, let the TD go there so he doesn’t have to go around and end up tracked.

Crews and Tank equipment!
Current crew skills available – Camouflage, repair and firefighting

Artillery – Once your crew gets to 100% I would suggest first training them in camouflage and then the other two skills in whichever order you prefer.
As for equipment Enhanced Gun laying drive (+10% aiming speed), Artillery Shell Rammer (-10% loading time) and camouflage net(-25% chance to be detected when stationary) would be my choice.

Tank destroyers- I would choose the same equipment for the tank destroyer but I would consider the crew skills to be a tossup between camouflage and repair. Entirely dependent on how close you get to the front line in your TD.

Tanks – I would always suggest training your crews in repair first when driving a tank, while choosing between camo and firefighting for the 2nd skill is down to personal choice. Being on fire is rare and you really shouldn’t be hiding in bushes enough to need camo as a priority.

As for equipment it will depend on your role and how you play. If you drive a Heavy tank it is likely to be a good idea to pick up a Large spall liner to provide you with greater protection from artillery rounds, and a gun rammer to increase your firing speed with the 3rd choice down to personal preference.

But if you drive a fast medium tank you might want to go for a Toolbox to in case you get tracked and want to avoid as much fire as possible as a first priority.

But at the end of the day equipment are crew skills are largely personal choice and playstyle dependent these are simply my first choices.

Here are some additional guides you will find useful on the WoT forums incase you haven’t read them already.